Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-12-16

of it, so that if compelled TO back before !
the bclated passenger, it might not be in
the way; ana If compelled to fight, the
fewer of the enemy the better; otherwise
its running down to the place Of the bro
ken rail was undesirable. The conductor
said to Andrews:
"You of course will remain here until
my passenger train comes, and tell them
to overhaul me at Kingstonp
"No," returned Andrews, az must &C
Mt once the fate of the army hangs on my
getting promptly through with those car
loads of ammunition. Suppose the Yam
KEGS attack Beauregard! lie has not pow
der enough for three hours fight"
This was startling possibility, and
forgetting all about Mitchell being in the
way, the conductor Che men on both sides
had heard the conversation, but had not
joined in iD periodically said;
"Get through by all means; but You
will have to run very slow and put flag
man out on every curve, or you will have
n cOllsion.n
Andrews answered quickly: 81 will
attend TO that" stepped on his own engine
and motioned TO Knight who was stll at
the throttle. The latter, hearing the words
about running slowly, had put on the
steam in IL gradual manner, and the engine
glided away at a moderate rate Of speed.
But this was not to last; neither was
any ilagman to be sent ahead; there had
been delays enough The time had come
when it was wise to take terrible risk.
We dared not wait for the passenger train
because Of the pursuers we had heard, and
of the freight which had started toward
the break; and we must reach the station
above lelore the passenger started out!
From Adairsville to Calhoun the next
station that had a side track, is little
more than nine miles. The road runs di-
rectly north, is almost straight and but
little removed from level this is the most
favorable stretch for running On the whole
line Andrews said to his comrades; "Make
her show how fast she can go; every sec
ond saved in getting to Calhoun counts"
The effect of giving such orders to men
whose nerves had all morning been thrill
ing with suppressed fire may be imagined!
The engine was in the finest running con-
dition. Knight had oiled it carefully dur
ing the long waiting at Kingston. and
again, in part, at Adairsville, and a heavy
pressure of steam had accumulated during
the pause at the latter station. Now the
full force of the mighty power was turned
on at once while oil was poured on sticks
and these fed into the furnace. The three
cars and twenty men were no load for the
powerful engine, and it sprung to its work
with shock that nearly took every man
from his feet, The race against time which
followed was grand and terrible. The en-
CINE seemed to be not SO much running as
coursing with great lionlike bounds along
the track. and the spectacle from the loco
motive as it rose and fell in its ceascess
rapid motion, while houses. fields and woods
almost worth the risk to enjoy, In the box
car we were thrown from side to side and
jcrlCd about in manner that battles
description. The car was so close to the
engine that it felt every impulse Of power
and there was no following train to steady
| it. Many times we were startled with the
monetary conviction THAT we We're of
! the track; but there was no cessation Of
our rapid flight We hardly knew what
it meant. and though we pushed our door
partly open, the risk of being thrown out
was too great to permit us TO open it wide;
| and gazing at the panorama that fitted
| by. with lightning like rapidiIy. we could
! gain no ClcW to this frantic and perilOus
chase, for there was no indication of fol-
| lowing train that we could perceive.
| There was no danger Of being seen in the
opening of our dor, for the rapid flight of
the train would have attracted all the at
| ten1iun that anything upon the car could.
Andrews scarcely looked ahead while
making this run. Brown and Knight,
however, did keep sharp lookout, sim
ply for the purpose of seeing when we
came near the station that they might
shut Off steam and he able to stop there
They had no hope of reversing or stop
pin-, if they saw the bclatcd passenger
train approaching. As well try to reycrse
a cannon ball in lis flight If the train had
started ont from Calhoun before we came
in sight, it was simply ana inevitably
death for every one of us; and the people
of the other train would not have Jared
much better.
Our fireman, J. A. Wilson, very graph
ically describes this fearful effort to CON
Qucr time:
"Our locomotive was under full head
of steam. The engineer stood with his
hand on the lever, with the valve wide
open. 1t was frghtful to see how the
powerful iron monster under Us would
leap forward under the revolutions OF her
great wheels. Brown would scream to
mo ever and anon, Give her more wood,
All which command was promptly
ohcyed. She rocked and reccd like a
drunken man, while we tumbed from
side TO side like grains Of popcorn in Il hot
frying pan 1t was bewilderiug to look at
the ground or objects on the roadside. \
constant stream of fire ran from the great
wheels and 10 this day | shudder as re
fleet ON that. my first and last locomotive
rid" We sped pp-t houses, stations and
tiel ., ate, of sight. almost like a
meteor. while the bvstandcrs, who scarce
~ caught Il glimpse of us as we passed,
looked on as if in both fear and amaze
mcut. II has always been Il wonder 10 me
thai our locomotive and car, kept the
trach at all. or how they could possibly
stay on The track At times the iron
horse seemed literally to fly over the
course The driving wheels Of one side
being lifted from the rails much Of th,
distance o,cr WhiAI we now sped with q
velocity fearful To contemplate. We tool
little thought Of the matter them
Andrews kept his watch in his hand
seeming to notice nothing else, for tim,
was the only element in this part of oul
mud La. and Isbi,rI.t U.I,, I,,l-.,